The Night After
by Ryan Stoppable
Summary: Last night, everything changed for the inhabitants of the Fix-It Felix, Jr. and Sugar Rush games at Litwak's Arcade. Tonight, Ralph and Vanellope get their first crack at the new normal. Please read & review!
1. When I Can See You Again

**Disclaimer: "Wreck-It Ralph" and all related characters, imagery, future console adaptations of Sugar Rush Speedway which are hopefully in development ****_right now_****, etc. are property of Disney. All third-party characters are property of their respective copyright holders.**

* * *

**"The Night After"**

_Chapter One: When I Can See You Again_

"Quittin' time!"

Even 30 years after they had first been plugged in at Litwak's Arcade, those two simple words were enough to bring smiles to the faces of each and every occupant of Niceland, currently milling around in front of their centerpiece apartment building. On this night, however, they held special significance, as their game had come perilously close to being unplugged mere hours earlier; and doubly so for Wreck-It Ralph, who had also seen his life flash before his eyes in a pool of molten Diet Cola minutes before that.

"Nice job out there today, Ralph," continued Fix-It Felix, Jr., the one person in his game Ralph considered a friend (although he hoped to increase that number going forward).

"Same to you, Felix – you were really fixing up a storm out there!" responded Ralph.

"Well, I had some good players today."

"Nice job?" interjected Gene, suddenly adding himself to the conversation. "Did you _see_ him up there? We're trying to throw him off the building, and he's smiling and waving at the screen!"

"I'm right here, Gene," deadpanned Ralph.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself? You're gonna get us unplugged!" Gene shot an intense glare at the bigger man. "Again!"

Ralph locked his gaze on his smaller, but before he could respond, Felix stepped between the two men in an attempt to diffuse the situation. "We won't get unplugged. And I can probably guess who Ralph was waving at," he said, turning towards Ralph, "and I bet she'd love it if you paid her a visit."

"Don't we need to get together and talk about what happened last night?" asked Ralph, gesturing at the Nicelanders as he did.

"Aw, I can handle that. I'm just gonna take it easy tonight anyways. Besides, my lady would be _very_ disappointed if I wasn't here to see her."

"Your...lady?" asked Gene.

"Yeah," responded Felix, "while we were out last night, I met the most dynamite gal..." Felix trailed off into his thoughts, his face taking the complexion that he had described as 'the honeyglow'. Knowing that his brother would have some more explaining to do, Ralph decided this was his cue to head for more colorful pastures and excused himself.

The big man climbed into the train for the short, uneventful ride, made even more so since Ralph had the entire train to himself. Shortly thereafter, the bright lights of Game Central Station flickered into view, and Ralph got out. Characters of every stripe could be seen filing into the station from every door, and following the prior night's big hullabaloo, Ralph noted a crowd starting to gather around the entrance to Sugar Rush.

However, he had more pressing matters to attend to as Surge Protector materialized directly in front of him. "Name?"

"Really?" Ralph stopped, and decided he wasn't in the mood to argue tonight. "Sorry. Wreck-It Ralph, from the game Fix-It Felix Jr."

"Anything to declare?"

"Nope, no Cybugs with me tonight," responded Ralph with a smile.

"That's nothing to laugh about, Ralph," scolded Surge, "you could have put the entire arcade out of business!"

"Just between you and me: Hero's Duty," said Ralph, jabbing a finger towards the new game's portal to his left, "during gameplay hours...that scared me." It was Surge Protector's turn to chuckle now; big, bad Wreck-It Ralph, the guy who can punch through entire buildings in a single shot, _scared_? But suddenly, one of the knights from _Joust_ caught Surge's eye.

"Gotta go, proceed," he finished, dematerializing just as suddenly as he had appeared.

Ralph continued on into Game Central Station, noting that he was receiving more varied reactions from the arcade populace. There were still people that just considered him to be a Bad Guy; those were the ones that could safely be ignored. Some were specifically angry at him because of his game-jumping exploits that had in fact threatened the entire arcade; Ralph hoped that in time, they would be able to give him a chance. Finally, others had heard how Ralph was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to save Sugar Rush from destruction. Those were the ones who Ralph would try to become friends with at first.

But right now, there was only one friend on Ralph's mind, and the mere thought of that friend put a big smile on Ralph's face as he crossed the station towards Sugar Rush.

* * *

Ralph felt the sweetly-scented air as he looked up at a newly-installed sign in the shape of a starting gate. Written across two lines, it said _Welcome to Sugar Rush – The Sweetest Place In The Arcade!_ Noting that it had not been there in the morning, he stopped and turning towards the tapping of a microphone.

"Great job out there everybody!" announced a voice, which he immediately recognized as that of Vanellope Von Schweetz. "Now, before we get started, I would just like to personally assure you that there will _not_ be any evil monsters attacking us during the race tonight. Hit it, Sour Bill!"

Craning his neck towards the starting line, Ralph could see Vanellope run down the stairs and hop into her kart – _their_ kart, thought Ralph, grinning as he thought back to the previous night.

"Let the Random Roster Race commence," announced Sour Bill, causing the crowd to roar in approval. A few seconds later, they were drowned out by upbeat music as fifteen karts sped off into the distance. Keeping his eyes on the action, Ralph made his way down to the long row of bleachers by the start/finish line and wedged himself into a gap between two sections. Hearing a gasp to his left, Ralph turned his head.

"Oh no, it's that big wrecking guy! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" yelled a fan over the din of the crowd.

"Settle down, I'm not here to wreck anything, I just came to cheer on my friend," responded Ralph calmly. Realizing what he had just said, the big guy couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Look, here they come!" shouted another excited fan. The crowd turned to the right as one, noticing the first few karts turning onto the home stretch. Ralph specifically noticed Vanellope, who appeared to be in second place behind a girl clad in pink, and ahead of a boy with a pumpkin on his head and a girl wearing a pink winter hat. They came to the final set of item boxes.

Taffyta Muttonfudge smirked as she received her item selection. "Time to finish this," she muttered. Glancing in her rearview mirror, she fired a Sweet Seeker missile behind her

"Come on, come on, come on," urged Vanellope Von Schweetz, awaiting her item selection, and focusing just in case. Seeing Taffyta's incoming projectile, she pounded the item button, causing her to flicker forward just before the weapon hit her – and past her rival into the lead! Vanellope's fan section roared in approval as she had nothing but open track in front of her.

"Bring it home, kid!" urged Ralph

Unfortunately for Vanellope, her joy was short-lived as she felt a second Sweet Seeker slam into the back of her kart (and saw a third drift harmlessly by).

"Stay sweet!" shouted Taffyta as she reclaimed the lead. Vanellope could only blow a raspberry in her direction and shift her kart into gear, finishing in 3rd place behind Nougetsia Brumblestain as well

Ralph waited patiently as Vanellope accepted her bronze trophy, waving to the crowd in the process, and climbed up into her section of fans to exchange thanks and congratulations (and plenty of fist bumps, he noted) with the NPCs. Finally, she turned and saw one more gigantic fist waiting, one that could only belong to one person.

"Stinkbrain!" shouted Vanellope, running over to fistbump the big man before climbing onto his shoulders.

"So how was your first day on the roster, Your Highness?"

"It was fi-" began Vanellope, suddenly realizing what he had said. "Hey, I'm a _President_ now!"

"I happen to know," teased Ralph, "that Sugar Rush didn't have a constitutional convention while the arcade was open. Besides, Presidents don't live in castle," he said, jabbing a finger towards the castle perched atop Royal Hill.

"That's _clearly_ an executive mansion, Sergeant Smellybreath. Anyways," said Vanellope, quickly changing the subject, "didja see me out there? Didja? I almost _won_!"

"Well, you still qualified for the roster, didn't you?"

"Gah-_doy_," she responded. "But I wanted to win!"

"Then you should have done that glitchy thing again," advised Ralph.

"But I couldn't." Sensing that Ralph could use an explanation, she continued. "Sourpuss told me earlier that teleporting was supposed to be my kart's special ability all along, but when..." Vanellope paused, not wanting to mention _his_ accursed name. "But when my code got messed up, _I_ got the ability to do it myself."

"Cool!" said Ralph.

"I know, right? Apparently, now that I can control it, I'd be 'overpowered' and 'broken' if I could teleport whenever I wanted," she continued, making air quotes as she did, "so he went and reprogrammed my kart to only let me do that as my special ability. Outside of the races, though-" Vanellope flickered out of existence and reappeared behind Ralph. "I can do it whenever I want!" Ralph spun around just in time to see his little friend flicker away once again. "See?"

"Yep," said Ralph, "I think I got it."

"So, Ralph, wanna see my cast-" Noticing Ralph's smirk, Vanellope quickly changed the word. "-executive mansion that _isn't a castle_?" The President grinned as if nothing was wrong.

"Actually," he responded, "we're going to have to end up back here anyways, so why don't I show you around Game Central Station first?"

"Alright!" Vanellope took off running towards the portal, surprising the big man. "Come on, Admiral Underpants, let's _go_!"

_End of Chapter_


	2. Out and About

_Chapter Two: Out and About_

Vanellope pointed up at the sign near the Sugar Rush entrance. On this side, it read _To Game Central Station – When Can We See You Again?_ "Like it? I had some of the NPCs put that up today," she commented.

"Well," remarked Ralph, "here we are." He gestured towards the portal. "The invisible wall that, for fifteen years, has marked the very edge of your existence. But for no longer. Now, it marks the beginning-"

"Coming, Stinky?" Glancing down, Ralph noticed that his little buddy wasn't at his side anymore; in fact, she had already passed through the barrier and was sticking her tongue out at Ralph.

"What, you didn't like my dramatic monologue?"

"It's just an invisible wall, Ralph," retorted Vanellope, trying to hold back a giggle and failing. Once she recomposed herself, Vanellope skipped off towards the bustling station, with Ralph close behind. Getting close to the light at the other end of the tunnel, the President suddenly stopped.

"Ugh, I can't see _anything_ over these _people_," she groaned. Without a word, Ralph lifted her up, gently placing her on his shoulder.

"Is that better, Your Shortness?" Ralph looked up to see Vanellope nodding in agreement (and rolling her eyes at him).

For the first time in her 15 years of existence, Vanellope Von Schweetz was able to behold the splendor and majesty of Game Central Station for herself. Characters of every size and every type milling about; there must be _thousands_ of them. Across from her and Ralph, a long row of portals just like the one they had exited from, with another long row behind them, and she knew that an entire world lay hidden behind each one. Ralph paused, allowing the little girl to take everything in. "Wow," was all she could manage to say.

Finally, Ralph decided to move once again, stepping towards the congregated group, but that was when Surge Protector materialized in front of them.

"Name?"

"I just told you-" started Ralph.

"No, not you, Ralph, the little one," interrupted Surge. Vanellope waved at him.

"Vanellope! Vanellope Von Schweetz," she said enthusiastically.

"And what game are you from?"

"Sugar Rush!" Vanellope pointed at the glowing sign behind her. "Gah-_doy_."

"Well excuuuuuuuuuse me, I've never seen you before," drawled Surge.

"It's...a long story," interjected Ralph, "but I shouldn't really keep _royalty_ waiting." Vanellope drew the big guy's attention and scowled at him. Ralph merely grinned in response. "Look, come find me when I'm heading back home, and I'll be glad to explain." _And I know he will_, Ralph thought.

"Okay, proceed," said Surge, dematerializing back to his watch post. That's exactly what Ralph and Vanellope did, joining the group congregated farther in – the Pac-Man ghosts, a few Toads, Zombie and M. Bison from the Bad-Anon meeting, and a small number of assorted NPCs.

"Ralph, it's good to see you're okay after...what happened last night," said Clyde. "And who do you have here with you?"

"I'm President Vanellope Von Schweetz from Sugar Rush! And...you are?" Ralph glanced at Vanellope in shock – she didn't know about Pac-Man? And then he remembered that she actually wouldn't, as this was her first time outside of Sugar Rush. Ralph quickly withdrew his glare.

"Clyde, from Pac-Man, and these are my colleagues Inky, Blinky, and Pinky," he responded, gesturing towards his fellow ghosts in the process. "Nice to meet you."

Ralph continued to converse with the other characters, but his friend's patience ran out much more quickly.

"This is sooooo boring!" whined Vanellope. Noticing this, Ralph quickly excused himself from his conversations.

"Sorry guys, the Princess demands my presence," explained Ralph.

"Ralph, would you cut it with the Princess talk? I told you, I'm a _President_ now!" she retorted.

"And I told _you_ that I don't care," replied Ralph with a smirk, causing his buddy to stick her tongue out at him. Noticing something on the schedule board, he picked Vanellope up and took off running towards the portal to Tapper's. Setting the girl down in an empty seat, Ralph climbed around the train, plopping down next to her.

"Say, Ralph," started Vanellope, "why do all of the _other_ games have trains and mine doesn't?"

"I can't say for sure," he replied, "I never really gave Sugar Rush a second thought until that spaceship decided I should. I would guess, though, that the...er...previous ruler had it taken out to discourage people from visiting."

"Then you need to get Felix over here to fix it!"

"There isn't anything there _to_ fix, kid," responded Ralph. "It'll need to be a new one." Suddenly struck by inspiration, Ralph smiled and continued. "And I know just the people you should talk to about that. Remind me to tell you if I forget."

* * *

Ever since the machine was installed back in 1983, Tapper's had been a favorite nighttime hangout for the Litwak's populace, and this night was no exception. Locating a pair of empty stools along one of the bars, Ralph helped Vanellope up onto one before plopping down on the other. Noticing their arrival, the bartender scooted over to them.

"Good evening, Wreck-It Ralph. What can I get you tonight?" Suddenly, he noticed the top of Vanellope's head peeking over the bar as well. "And how about you, miss?"

"Two root beers, please, and do you have anything taller for her to sit on?" asked Ralph, gesturing towards his little buddy.

Mr. Tapper walked around the bar and fiddled with Vanellope's stool, causing Ralph to lift her up as the stool extended to be almost as tall as the bar itself. Signaling for his guests to wait, he clipped over to the tap, quickly filled two glasses, dropped a straw in the latter one and expertly slid them to a stop in front of Ralph and a grinning Vanellope. Seeing a glass threatening to hit the floor a couple rows over, the bartender clipped away just as quickly as he had appeared.

Ralph quickly picked up his glass and began to down it, but Vanellope was not so lucky. Even with her newly-adjusted stool, she was still unable to reach her straw. Shrugging, she hopped up onto the bar with an exaggerated groan and began to drink her root beer – nothing was going to bring her down on this night.

Suddenly, Ralph heard a voice behind him. "Hey Ralph! Good to see you alright. You got _girlfriend_ now?"

Taken aback by the question, the big man looked around, trying to figure out who Zangief was referring to, and then saw who he was looking at – Vanellope?! Ralph gestured towards his friend, causing the Russian to nod and confirm his guess.

"She's nine," stated Ralph.

"So?" asked Zangief.

Ralph wasted little time to respond to that. "NO, you moron," he shot back, slapping his oversized palm against his face. This drew a chuckle out of Vanellope, who finished sucking in root beer and turned towards the Russian. She immediately wished she hadn't. "EW! GROSS!" she shouted, quickly turning away and covering her eyes.

"And for the Creators' sake, could you put some clothes on?" deadpanned Ralph.

Zangief waved his arms, dismissing the complaint – after all, why did _he_ have to change after 20 years? Turning back around, Vanellope noticed all of the characters sitting around at the various bars and asked Ralph who they all were.

"Well, we've got Bill and Lance from _Contra_," said Ralph, pointing to the various characters as he named them, "Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, and Amy Rose...Kenny Masters, Ryu and Blanka – they're from _Street Fighter_, Zangief's game...there's a few football players from _NFL Blitz_...and Phineas from _Phineas and Ferb_ – well, one of them."

"As in, there's more than one?"

"Yep," affirmed Ralph. "If I recall right, there's two of him who are playable and others who are NPCs – said to be from different alternate dimensions of the game's universe. All nice, friendly people though – you and the other racers should go meet them." Ralph leaned in towards Vanellope and continued in a whisper. "Actually, you should invite them to come to Sugar Rush – I bet they'd have something cooked up for the entrance tunnel in 11 minutes flat!"

Having gone off on a tangent, Ralph had not mentioned the characters who next walked up to the merry twosome. "O&$%?" asked Q*Bert, flanked by his friends from his game.

"And there's Q*Bert and his crew," explained Ralph, raising his right hand in a salute to the group. Taking his cue, Vanellope turned and waved towards the arcade veterans.

"$#~&O."

"Is he trying to say something?" inquired Vanellope.

"He is." Anticipating the next question, he quickly continued. "But I don't know what he's saying." Vanellope buried her face in her hands, earning a dismissive eye roll from Ralph. "The Creators gave his game its own unique language – one that I wasn't programmed to know. Felix went and learned it a while back...but I never did. You know, I should probably get working on that."

"Yeah, for all you know, he could be calling you fat. And saying your breath stinks." Vanellope was going to continue, but Ralph shushed her and pointed at Q*Bert, who was nodding fervently to deny the allegations.

"Which it does," taunted the President with a huge smirk on her face. Ralph quickly spun his stool around – nearly kicking Coily accidentally in the process – lifted his gigantic right fist above his head, and slammed it down into his left hand. Nonetheless, Vanellope flinched herself right off of her stool, glitching into a safe landing on the ground nearby with a triumphant "Ta-da!" and a bow.

"Not bad," affirmed Ralph, now smiling as well as he lifted Vanellope back up onto her stool. The Q*Bert characters shuffled away, allowing the friends to return their attention to their root beers and each other – with everything having happened so fast over the past day, it was good to have a minute to settle down. They were interrupted from their conversation when Mr. Tapper sidled up across from them.

"So, Ralph, did you ever get your medal?"

_End of Chapter_


	3. A Tale of Two Medals

_Chapter Three: A Tale of Two Medals_

"So, Ralph, did you ever get your medal?"

The question lingered in the air as Wreck-It Ralph determined what to say. Not wanting to reopen the emotional scars his companion carried from the morning incident, Ralph knew he had to be very careful with how he responded.

"No, I didn't, but I got something _even better_," Ralph responded, turning towards Vanellope with a flourish. But she seemed to have a different thought on her mind, holding her hand up to stop the big man.

"What are you talking about? You got your medal-"

"He's not talking about the medal _you_ gave me," interjected Ralph, fetching the You're My Hero medal out of his pocket to show Vanellope. "See? I've got that one right here."

"I know, Stinkbrain," retorted the President, "neither am I. You got your _other_ medal too. I _saw_ him give it to you," she continued, frowning as the negative memories poured back in.

"And I got rid of it."

"But wasn't that supposed to be your ticket to a better life?" asked Vanellope.

Noticing the confusion written on his friend's face, Ralph decided she was owed an explanation. "If only it were that simple, kid. Alright guys, story time."

"So anyways, after an entire day's worth of being scared out of my wits, I won myself a medal in _Hero's Duty_." Vanellope started giggling at the name, causing Ralph to turn and shake his head at her. "Got attacked by a Cy-Bug, and managed to stumble into an escape pod, which decided I _obviously_ wanted to go to Sugar Rush."

"I see my medal hanging at the top of a candy-cane tree, and that's fine – climbing is what I do, after all. But no," said Ralph, loading up his voice with as much feigned disgust as he could muster, "some _filthy little crumb-snatcher_ has to go steal it from me!" Ralph put his arm around Vanellope, who grinned widely in response. "And then...some other stuff happened-" and the big guy could get no further as Vanellope dissolved into an intense giggling fit.

"He got covered...in green frosting...and tripped into a donut...you should have seen him! It was _hilarious_!" sputtered Vanellope in between her giggles. Ralph could only roll his eyes, and then he started laughing too as he thought back. He could only imagine how he must have looked at that point.

"Anyways, then _more_ other stuff happened," continued Ralph, skipping over the most emotionally-traumatizing part of the day, "and all of a sudden I had my medal back. So I went home. I had my medal, and it was supposed to be my ticket to a better life, as you said. But instead of a better life, I found out my game was out of order." Vanellope gasped in horror (momentarily forgetting that this did not actually happen in the end).

"So now, I was _really mad_." The big man turned towards Vanellope as he continued. "And what do I do when I'm really mad?"

"You're gonna _wreck it_?" guessed Vanellope, mimicking Ralph and his arms-raised pose in the process.

"No, not this time."

"You throw a tantrum like a little diaper baby?" she quickly shot back.

"That's not how I would put it," responded Ralph. "Actually, it was sort of a combination of the two. I took the medal and flung it at the screen as hard as I could. Managed to knock down part of the Out Of Order sign, so I could see the _Sugar Rush Speedway_ console. Really wasn't what I wanted to look at at that point, but as I stared out into space, you'd never guess what I saw on the side of that console."

"Someone who looked _just like you_!" Vanellope feel deep into thought – that _would_ explain a lot, namely the gap in her internal timeline of last night: why did Ralph shatter her dreams, abandon her, and then do a complete 180 in the course of just a few minutes? Noticing this, Ralph paused to let her collect her thoughts. That gap – it made sense now. Vanellope nodded in understanding as she put the pieces together in her head.

"Except _that_ Vanellope was dressed way better than you are," continued Ralph. "And was taller. And cuter. And I'm sure she was a _way_ better driver than you too," he teased.

"Would you knock it off?" sputtered Vanellope, getting that out before dissolving into another giggling fit.

"Sorry, kid. With how mad I was, my memory might be a little bit fuzzy. But it would be hard _not_ to be taller than you."

"I know, I _get_ it, Major Halitosis," she retorted, glaring defiantly at the bigger man. Ralph paused to figure out exactly what she had just called him before letting out an exaggerated groan.

Ralph decided to get things back on track. "Can we get back to the story now?" Receiving an affirmative nod from his little companion, he turned towards Mr. Tapper and continued. "So I saw her on the side of the console, and I went 'wait a minute,' and then I ran back to Sugar Rush as fast as I could – well, without running too many people over – to try to make things right. Which, in this case, meant overthrowing an evil, game-jumping usurper king and restoring Vanellope to her rightful places as a racer and a Princess."

Vanellope jumped onto the table and got up by Ralph's face. "I. Am not. A _Princess_!" she insisted. Ralph gently slid her aside, ignoring the latest protest.

"So, in conclusion, I didn't get the medal I was looking for, but I got something much more important," said Ralph, picking Vanellope up onto his shoulder as he spoke, "a brand new best friend."

Ralph and Mr. Tapper continued their discussion, as the bartender wanted to know more about the battle with Turbo – he didn't exactly have the likes of evil, game-jumping usurper kings to deal with in his game. As they did, Vanellope grabbed the rest of her drink and hopped down to go talk to some of the other patrons. Trying to start with Coily and Slick, she was quickly reminded of her lack of Q*Bertese knowledge. From there, she introduced herself to the rest of the patrons.

After finishing up with his discussion, Ralph turned and glanced at his friend, currently in the middle of a conversation with Phineas. Whatever they were talking about, both Vanellope and the young inventor seemed excited about it, with how much they were flailing their arms around. Wait a second, that can't be right – did Phineas just say...?

Ralph's train of thought was cut off as he uncorked a giant yawn, loud enough to draw the attention of most of the room.

"Getting sweepy, Rawphie?" taunted Vanellope. She struggled briefly, but eventually gave in and yawned herself, earning a smirk from the big guy.

"You made me do that!"

"I did _not_," responded Ralph. "Anyways, we should probably get going and get you back to Sugar Rush."

"But I'm not tired yet!" argued Vanellope. Ralph looked at her rapidly drooping eyelids, along with the fact that she just yawned, and knew that wasn't actually the case. Nonetheless, he decided to play along.

"But I am. And besides, you said you were going to show me around the castle." Vanellope rolled her eyes, resigned to the fact that Ralph wasn't changing his terminology.

"Oh, alright."

"Say, when you were talking to Phineas," inquired Ralph, "did I hear him say he's from a licensed game?"

"Yeah..."

"So there are real people who look like _that_?" he reasoned, referring to the boy's triangularly-shaped head. Vanellope could only bury her head in her heads – even _she_ knew better than that.

"What?" asked Ralph.

* * *

Now carrying the sleeping Vanellope in his arms, Ralph walked the chocolate path up Royal Hill towards the Sugar Rush castle. He turned his head to take in the scenery as he walked, nothing like what he would ever see in his home game. Unfortunately for him, he was snapped out of his reverie by a sharp yelp that also caused the youngster to stir.

"Should we go check over there?" inquired Ralph.

Turning in the direction of the scream, Ralph paused to hear some distant laughter, an annoyed shout of "GLOYD!", and two karts starting up shortly thereafter.

"Nah, they'll be fine," responded Vanellope. "Frankly, I'd be more concerned if someone _wasn't_ calling for Orangie's head." She jumped out of Ralph's arms, glitching into a safe landing, and spun around to see the oversized candy corn Kernel of Gloyd Orangeboar zip past at the bottom of the trail, with the Kit Kart of a newly yellow frosting-clad Rancis Flutterbugger in hot pursuit. Vanellope broke out into a giggling fit at the sight.

"D-Did you see him?" asked Vanellope, pointing at Rancis as he sped away. "He looked even more ridiculous than _you_ did! I didn't think that was even _possible_!" Ralph could only shake his head as Vanellope composed herself and the two friends continued walking. Shortly thereafter, they were at the entrance of the majestic castle. Swinging the giant doors open, they stepped inside, where they were met by the loyal castle servant.

"Good evening, Vanellope. And you too, Wreck-It Ralph," droned Sour Bill, noticeably shuddering at the latter name. Ralph raised his hands in mock surrender.

"Same to you, Gumdrop!" replied Vanellope.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna eat you," said Ralph. "You have no idea how disgusting that really was."

"Also, your presences are requested here at the castle tomorrow night for the coronation of our new ruler, our _rightful_ ruler, Princess Vanellope," continued Bill.

"That's _me_! Wait a minute, _Princess_ Vanellope? Not President Vanellope?"

"See, I told you," taunted a smirking Ralph.

"A royal government is what the Creators wanted. Who are we to argue?" reasoned Bill. Vanellope did not have an answer for that, falling into deep thought for a moment.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on. If my coronation is tomorrow night, than that means...I'm actually _not_ a princess yet! How about that, Stinkbrain?" The feisty youngster blew a raspberry at Ralph, causing him to start chuckling.

"Well, you're not a president either, so then what _are_ you? A regular chump?" retorted Ralph. Noticing the hole in her logic, Vanellope giggled and chose not to answer. Instead, she led Ralph deeper into the castle, showing Ralph around and pointing out all of the really cool things she had available to her now – in fact, it was even more than she knew what to do with. Finally, she came to the last downward stairway that she had yet to point out.

"And down there, of course, is the dungeon. It's not the Fungeon anymore, because it's _not fun_. Also not a very good dungeon either, since two of the rooms have broken walls." She turned towards her larger companion and grinned. "_You_ wouldn't happen to know anything about that, wouldja, Uncle Fart Breath?" Ralph, also grinning, shook his head to deny the allegation.

"So there you have it," said Vanellope, "my castle.../executive mansion." She yawned again, interrupting her train of thought. "I think I'm gonna get to bed now, and since there's no way you're getting through that door," she continued, pointing at the upstairs, "this will have to be goodbye. Go grab some royal cookies from the kitchen for your walk home."

"What kind of cookies?" inquired Ralph.

"Sugar cookies! 'Cause we're in SUGAR Rush. Gah-_doy_!"

"At least they're not chocolate," muttered the big man. He stuck his big arm out for a goodnight fist bump. Vanellope ran up to him, but instead glitched onto his shoulders, sliding down to hug Ralph as best she could. She climbed back up onto his shoulders and leaned in next to his ear.

"I love you, Stinkbrain. And don't you _ever_ forget that." Setting Vanellope down gently, Ralph waited until she got onto the stairs to respond.

"You too, Your Majesty." This earned Ralph an exaggerated groan as he cracked a smile. "And good night."

* * *

It took a while, as he was asked to retell his story several more times along the way, including to the Surge Protector (he had promised after all), but Ralph eventually made it back across Game Central Station and onto the train bound for _Fix-It Felix, Jr._ Feeling the train come to a stop inside his home game, Ralph stepped out of the train. He immediately noticed a new sign just outside the terminal, pointing arrows towards the centerpiece apartment building, and also something called East Niceland.

"Welcome back, Ralph!" greeted Mary, walking over towards the big man.

Ralph smiled and nodded in acknowledgement. "Thanks. We have an East Niceland now?"

"Uh-huh. We decided to rename it since 'pile of bricks' isn't completely accurate anymore," she explained. Ralph turned and noted a single building standing in front of a slightly smaller pile. In front of that, two figures beckoned him to come, which Ralph quickly did.

"Good evening, Felix, Sarge. What's this?" asked Ralph, gesturing towards the house.

"It's a house," replied Calhoun. Ralph rolled his eyes and took a deep breath. "With a door that, I am told, is eleven Niceland feet high."

_But there's only one person here that would need a door that size_, thought Ralph. His jaw dropped to the ground as realization swiftly set it – they had built it _for him_! Ralph's shock turned into a big grin as he picked Felix up in a hug.

"But…why?" stuttered Ralph.

"After the way we've treated you for the last 30 years, this is the least we can do," assured Felix. "Now, why don't you go on in and check it out?"

Ralph set Felix down gently and opened the front door...pulling it completely off the hinges in the process. He stood there, holding the door in his hands, as Calhoun started to laugh.

"And _that's_ why they call him Wreck-It, folks," deadpanned the Sergeant.

"I can fix it!" declared Felix. Once Ralph got inside, he tapped the door frame with his golden hammer, earning a familiar jingle as the door re-attached itself.

Ralph took a look around his new home. It was a simple abode, much like the man himself, but it had everything he really needed: a bed, a dresser, a dining table with a piping-hot pie on it (causing him to smile), a fridge, windows to let him see the rest of Niceland, and plenty of brick wall to decorate as he saw fit. Ralph pulled his cherished You're My Hero medal from his pocket and hung it proudly next to the door, so that he would see it every morning before he left.

With that taken care of, a tired Wreck-It Ralph plopped down onto his bed. If this was the way things were going to be from now on...he could _definitely_ get used to this.

**THE END**


End file.
